Roger Daniels, Prisoners without Trial: Japanese Americans in World War II (New York: Hill and Wang, 2003). In this brief monograph, Roger Daniels covers the many aspects of the World War II experience for Japanese Americans, including not only the confinement but also the military service of the 100th Infantry, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and the Military Intelligence Service linguists. He also addresses draft resisters, the Supreme Court cases, and postwar resettlement and redress. Daniels is a recognized expert on the subject, and his book is arguably the best condensed overview of the various struggles and experiences faced by Americans of Japanese ancestry during the war.

Greg Robinson, By Order of the President: FDR and the Internment of Japanese Americans (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003). Though President Roosevelt has been praised for some of his socially liberal ideas, Greg Robinson thoroughly demonstrates that his decision to intern the Japanese Americans was based at least in part on his own racial views. Robinson examines all the various reports and individuals that Roosevelt consulted prior to his executive order, but ultimately concludes that Roosevelt denied much of the evidence supporting Japanese Americans’ loyalty and chose to order the exclusion and confinement due to his own fears and prejudices.